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Poe grimaced and tried to keep himself from balling up his fists as he listened to your sobs over the telephone. Karl was curled up in his lap, looking somewhat concerned at the loud noises coming from the receiver and the angry trembling of Poe's body.
"I can't believe this is happening to me! I have t-to pack up all my shit a-and find a new..." a sniffle and hiccup interrupted your train of thought, "I dont know what to do."
Poe took a deep breath, curling his thin fingers around the telephone and trying to steady his heart and clear his mind to come up with ideas on how he could help you.
Your boyfriend had cheated on you. It was shitty, but it happened, and now you were devastated. Poe cautioned you when you had started to go out with this guy you barely knew; you had only just met him a bar, of all places, and four months later you were moving in with it. Just three weeks later, you walk in on him making love to his ex.
"Where are you right now?" Poe asked, willing his voice to be as gentle as possible to try and calm you down, even though he had only rage in his heart.
"The bathroom. I don't know where he is. I'm hoping he's gone so I can start packing." You said, your voice hoarse. You had stopped crying, and your voice was sans crack, but the sobbing and wailing had taken a toll on your vocal cords.
"Come stay with me." Poe said, trying to hide the slight uncertainty and shake in his voice. He wanted to tell you that he was just as heartbroken as you, he wanted to tell you that he told you so, but he wanted most of all to hold you until all of your broken pieces were welded together by the warmth of his heart.
"What? Poe—"
"I'm serious, y/n. Come stay with me. You can figure things out while you're here. I'll pay for everything, you won't have to worry about a thing..." Poe urged gently, not believing the words coming out of his mouth. He had never been this bold with you, let alone with anything. Ever. But he felt as if he were reaching out for your hand as you were hanging off of the side of a cliff, any sudden movements could make you fall over the edge; he was desperate.
He heard you sigh on the other end of the line.
"Okay. I'll try to pack up as much as I can. I'll see you soon."
"Okay, the door is unlocked, come whenever you feel ready." Poe began to move the receiver away from his ear when you called his name. "Yes?"
"Thank you." You said slowly. He could hear the relief in your voice and he knew that he'd managed to save you from falling off of that cliff and spiraling down into the valley of despair.
--
Poe looked up when he heard his front door creak open, signaling your arrival. Karl scurried over to the foyer and he heard you giggle at the raccoon's excited affection for you, he managed to reach you just in time to see you nuzzle Karl right in the nose, making him squirm out of your grasp and scamper back to Poe.
"He's just never been shown affection by such a beautiful lady, don't mind him." Poe said, his boldness still surprising him.
"Oh, hush, Edgar." You mumbled under your breath, but you couldn't keep the blush from spreading across your nose and cheeks. Edgar had always been so nice to you, he'd always been there. Even when you first met your boyfriend--ex boyfriend--he'd cautioned you against going out with that guy. You should've listened.
Poe's eyes widened and he gnawed at his bottom lip as he watched you burst into tears, the door to his flat still wide open. He rushed over to you and wrapped his arms around your shaking form, shutting the door with a kick of his slender leg.
"What did I do? I'm sorry, I'm sor--"
"It's not your fault, Ed. It's mine. I should've--should've listened to you. He was no good for me." You sobbed into his chest. Your tears were soaking through Poe's grey, silk button down but Poe couldn't spare a thought to that trivial matter right now; all he could focus on was you and how to make you feel better.
"It's not your fault. It's okay--it's over now." Poe hushed you in a gentle tone as he absent-mindedly dragged his fingers through your hair in an attempt to soothe you.
"How do you always know what's good for me?" You mumbled, pushing away from Poe's chest and holding his gaze with your own teary-eyed one. He gulped. Now was as best a time as ever. She might as well know that someone still loves her, even though she's been discarded like a piece of trash.
He slid his cold hands on either side of your face, bringing you closer to his own, and you caught a glimpse of emerald eyes that always seemed to be surrounded by rings of dark grey. A shy smile played on his lips and his eyes bore into your own, completely captivating you.
"I want to know what's best for you so I can do that or be that. I want to be what you need. I am always looking out for you, y/n. I've loved you my whole life and I waited for you to notice."
You took a step back, quite shocked at Poe's confession, and your face was released from his cold hold. You shouldn't be as surprised as you were, though, since it was always kind of obvious that Poe had some sort of feelings for you, but his confession was so bold, so unlike Poe.
Poe's countenance went from surprise, to realization, and then to an embarrassed despair. He shouldn't have unloaded on you like that, not after all that you'd been through today. But as you stepped back to him, and tugged him down by the collar of his shirt so that your lips could meet his, he guessed he must have done something right.